Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease, which occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin (Type I), or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces (Type II). This condition typically leads to an increased concentration of glucose in the blood (hyperglycemia), which can cause an array of physiological derangements (e.g., kidney failure, skin ulcers, or bleeding into the vitreous of the eye) associated with the deterioration of small blood vessels. Sometimes, a hypoglycemic reaction (low blood sugar) is induced by an inadvertent overdose of insulin, or after a normal dose of insulin or glucose-lowering agent accompanied by extraordinary exercise or insufficient food intake.
A variety of sensor devices have been developed for continuously measuring blood glucose concentrations. Conventionally, a diabetic person carries a self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) monitor, which typically involves uncomfortable finger pricking methods. Due to a lack of comfort and convenience, a diabetic will often only measure his or her glucose levels two to four times per day. Unfortunately, these measurements can be spread far apart, such that a diabetic may sometimes learn too late of a hypoglycemic or hyperglycemic event, thereby potentially incurring dangerous side effects. In fact, not only is it unlikely that a diabetic will take a timely SMBG measurement, but even if the diabetic is able to obtain a timely SMBG value, the diabetic may not know whether his or her blood glucose value is increasing or decreasing, based on the SMBG alone.
Heretofore, a variety of glucose sensors have been developed for continuously measuring glucose values. Many implantable glucose sensors suffer from complications within the body and provide only short-term and less-than-accurate sensing of blood glucose. Similarly, transdermal sensors have run into problems in accurately sensing and reporting back glucose values continuously over extended periods of time. Some efforts have been made to obtain blood glucose data from implantable devices and retrospectively determine blood glucose trends for analysis; however these efforts do not aid the diabetic in determining real-time blood glucose information. Some efforts have also been made to obtain blood glucose data from transdermal devices for prospective data analysis, however similar problems have occurred.